BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb. 15 (UPI) -- Natural gas production in Azerbaijan is expected to double within the next decade, a deputy energy official said from Baku.
Natig Abbasov, Azerbaijan's deputy minister for industry and energy, said his country produced around 35 billion cubic feet of gas in 2006. That level increased to 950 bcf by the end of 2010.
"By 2020 the volume of gas produced in Azerbaijan will double," he was quoted by the Azeri Press Agency as saying.
Most of the increase was expected to come from the Shah Deniz gas field, one of the largest in the world.
Azerbaijan was importing natural gas in 2006 but has since emerged as the subject of European and Russian interest.
Europe aims to break the Russian grip on the regional energy sector by getting as much natural gas as it can from rival suppliers like Azerbaijan. The European community reached an agreement with Baku for natural gas for the planned Nabucco pipeline, though Russia's gas monopoly Gazprom continues to work in Azerbaijan.
Azeri officials said their country wasn't interested in having just a single customer for its natural resources.
